The Wednesday Walk 15th Februart 2012

The Plan
A walk from Lytchett Matravers

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Sue, Trudy B, Trudy H, David

The Walk
First, I must offer many apologies to our faithful blog-followers for lack of a write-up last week. And apologies also to Trudy because her photographs didn’t get their usual well-deserved airing. I’m afraid the blog-master went straight to bed after the walk, cuddling a hot water bottle, too ill to get to the computer and use the keyboard. Yes, he walked, but our regular followers will understand how bad things were when I reveal that he was unable to eat a pie at lunchtime! Things can’t get worse than that.
This week we enjoyed warmer weather which immediately got us off to a good start. We drove to Lytchett Matravers and parked in the lay-by opposite the Rose and Crown. From there we took the footpath past Foxhills Farm. The ground was reasonably firm with only a few soft muddy patches. We took a short walk along Foxhills Lane and then we cut onto the footpath past Post Green, arriving in Lytchett Minster. Along the way we saw buzzards and snowdrops.
After lunch, Trudy H and Sue walked to the Courtyard Craft Centre while the other three walkers took a shorter route than the morning walk. It brought them back up past Foxhills Farm. We heard a woodpecker but just couldn’t get a sighting of him. The path took us back to the car at Lytchett in little more than an hour. We made a short detour to pick up Trudy and Sue at the craft centre. A very pleasant day with Wendy providing tea before and after the event. Many thanks, Wendy.

The Pub
St Peter’s Finger at Lytchett Minster. A very pleasant environment and the pie-eater was able to make good work of a chicken and ham pie. All is well with the world. The ladies each finished a decent lunch but coffee was postponed until Sue and Trudy H got to the craft centre.

The Wednesday Walk 1st February 2012

Today’s write-up is courtesy of Wendy. (Nice one Wendy, I shall look forward to the release of your first novel!)

The Plan

A recce walk – one we had not walked previously

The Leader
Trudy B

Who Turned Up
Only three intrepid walkers today: Trudy B, Trudy H and Wendy.  Pat and Sue joined us for lunch.

The Walk
A cold but beautiful day, wall to wall sun and blue sky. We started from a lay-by at Cripplestyle. While changing into our boots we noticed the small church opposite was called 'Naughty Boy Studio' so we guessed it was no longer a church!  We set off down the lane and turned left up a cart track. As we came to the end of the track there was a gate which led us straight up a hill (the kind the Duke of York went up). It was called Kings Barrow. We got to the top where there was a magnificent view and then, like the Duke of York, we came down again. We then were walking across heathland which could have been quite muddy but luckily the mud was frozen. We followed the track to the road and crossed over going up a leafy lane. This took us between two woods called 'Hither Daggons Wood' and 'Further Daggons Wood'. This track was also very muddy, but again mostly frozen mud. We arrived at Hart's Farm where we admired the snowdrops growing in the orchard.  We made our way back to the road and crossed over walking through trees and fields where we came across a fishing Lake hidden in the woods.  We eventually came out near the Churchill Arms, where we met up with Pat and Sue and had lunch. 
After lunch we retraced our tracks and then turned off across Cranborne Common. It was a long slow climb up through Telegraph Plantation.  We managed to find some footpath/bridleway signs and with a bit of guesswork and some help from Trudy H's satnav phone (we discovered later that it thought we were a car and it tried to send us off towards a road) we found our way back to the car.

The Pub
The Churchill Arms at Alderholt. They had a ‘Seniors’ menu with two courses for £6.95.  The food was very good, particularly the chips. Sue's Treacle sponge pud was excellent.  Sadly the pie-eater missed out today being at home nursing a cold

Next week

Meet at David's for a snowdrop walk at Whitsbury/Breamore

The Wednesday Walk 25th January 2012

The Plan
A walk to Fordingbridge

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Ros, Trudy B, Sue, Beatrice and Tony H, David

The Walk
We parked at Bicton Ash alongside the main A338 road. From there we crossed the road and walked past Bicton village, taking the route through the trout farm where we saw many hundreds of fish leaping in the ponds. We continued along the most direct cross-country route into Fordingbridge and, as we were a little early, detoured round the town before arriving at the Ship Inn. Along the way this morning we saw snowdrops, camellias and daffodils.
After lunch we crossed back over the main road and took a path alongside the cemetery. That was where we found a badly maintained style on a public access path. Trudy took a photo so that a complaint can be made. The rest of the route was relatively straightforward - past the Three Lions and Stuckton - although we had to cross numerous styles along the way.
All-in-all, it was a pleasant walk.

The Pub
The Ship Inn, Fordingbridge. They were doing a “two courses for £6.95” deal which suited everyone. The food was good and Trudy enjoyed the coffee. The only downside was a distinct lack of pies.

The Wednesday Walk 11th January 2012

The Plan
A trip to Swanage.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trudy B, Ros, Beatrice and Tony H, David

The Walk
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Beatrice,
Happy birthday to you.
And what a glorious day it was for a birthday walk. The sky was blue and cloudless and the air was calm. Given another ten degrees of temperature and we could have believed it was summer. We left our cars at Canford Cliffs Village and caught the Swanage bus. We used our OAP bus passes for the ride which took us across the Sandbanks ferry and through Studland village. Bearing in mind we are in the early part of January, the bus was an open-top double decker. We had a choice of cooking in the heat downstairs or enjoying a cool breeze upstairs.
Once we arrived at Swanage, our walk took us up the hill to Durleston Head where we inspected the rewly refurbished castle. They've done a very good job on it and we took enough time to enjoy the glorious views over the English Channel and Swanage Bay as well as the visitor centre attractions. The only disappointment was the new cafe. The old one was was quite good, but the new one hasn't a hope of staying in business. It had gas supply problems so couldn't give us a hot meal, and maybe that was fortunate because the prices were totally extortionate. £20.12 for a set lunch!!! And £7.50 for a sandwich!!! And the menu wasn't much to shout about either. The twelve pence added to the price of the set lunch was - so we were told - to reflect the year.
We walked back down the hill into Swanage - still enjoying the views which included the Needles standing out nicely on the horizon -  and had lunch at the White Horse Inn. We then wandered back to the bus station outside the Swanage Steam Railway. All in all, it was a very pleasant day out. The views and the weather couldn't be faulted.
Trisha very kindly offered tea and cakes at her house after the walk. Thank you Trisha.

The Pub
The White Horse Inn at Swanage. A cheap and cheerful pub near the sea front. The steak and ale pie with chips and vegetables was £7.45, which worked out at five pence less than a sandwich up at the castle. The pie was okay (said the pie connoisseur) although the pastry was a touch stodgy, and the salmon salad was very good. The tea and coffee were free so we couldn't really complain about them.

The Wednesday Walk 4th January 2012

The Plan
A walk along the sea front

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trisha, Trudy B, Beatrice and Tony H, David

The Walk
After Tuesday's storms, we were pleased to see a much calmer day. We parked at our usual spot in the Branksome Woods car park just upwind of the Tennis courts. The ground was a bit muddy underfoot through the woodland walk, but we've braved far worse. The walk took us to the sea front at Branksome Chine where we found the shore road covered in sand, sometimes to a depth of several inches. This was a legacy of the previous day's high winds. With time in hand - or so we thought - we had a pleasant break with coffee and biscuits at Tricia's beach hut. Thank you, Tricia. We then walked on to the Harvester Inn... but more of that later. Trudy Junior and her mum, Trudy Senior, joined us at the Inn. We were pleased to see you both, Trudy. A pity your mum had to see Bournemouth catering at a weak point.
After lunch we climbed up the 102 steep steps to the cliff top and walked round to Argyll Gardens. The path through the gardens took us back to the shore road. From there we retraced our steps back to the car park. To finish off, Trisha kindly did the honours again with tea and cakes.

The Pub
The Harvester Inn at Durley Chine. Well, the food was okay and reasonably priced. And we were pleased to see Trudy Junior and Trudy Senior join us. But there was a problem. Well, two if you count the fact that they had no pies. We were told we would have to wait half an hour for a table. We actually waited an hour in the bar before we could get our bottoms settled at a table... one that had been unused before we got to it. We then waited another fifteen minutes to be served. We came to the conclusion that the management had probably been caught out with insufficient staff on duty. Not good enough!

Next Week
Meet at Whitecliff for a bus trip to Swanage. We'll hope for some decent weather for that trip. Wendy will advise the meeting time after consulting the bus timetables.

The Wednesday Walk 21st December 2011

The Plan
A walk from Sandford

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Lucy (welcome to the group, Lucy) Sue, Trisha, Beatrice, Tony R, Jackie and David. We were joined at the pub by Tony H.

The Walk
It wasn't a brilliant day but it stayed dry and we even saw a few odd patches of blue sky. We parked the cars outside Sandford school: no problem as the children are on holiday. We then walked out over Morden Bog Nature Reserve. This being winter, the path was somewhat boggy at times, but it was  never beyond our ability to outmanoeuvre the worst bits. The walk was not overly long but very pleasant.
Tony was waiting for us when we got to the pub and he completed the afternoon walk with us.
After lunch we took a shorter route across the heath, past the old decoy building (used to decoy enemy aircraft from the nearby admiralty site during WW2). We then returned to Sue's house for tea and cakes. Many thanks, Sue.

The Pub
The Clay Pipe at Sandford. The food was reasonably priced and very nicely done. The chicken and mushroom pie was excellent and no one felt short-changed by the food quality or amounts on their plates.

The Wednesday Walk 7th December 2011

The Plan
A walk from Delph Woods to Lamb's Green.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trudy, Sue, David. And Ros after lunch.

The Walk
A heavy shower in the middle of the morning did not deter the four walkers who turned up at Delph Woods. By the time we set out the shower had cleared although the air was still chilly. We made our way from the car park up to the track of the oldS&D railway line and set off past the golf course. The ground was a bit mucky underfoot but this is winter so we couldn't complain. We cut through to the Higher Blandford Road at Corfe Hills School and then turned off the road again at Rushcombe Bottom to follow the woodland trail. It wasn't the only Bottom on this walk: we also passed a Happy one. We took a short detour along Wayman's Way to see if we could walk through Happy Bottom, but the route didn't allow it. After a short backtrack, we followed our usual route to Lamb's Green. The last bit of Lamb's Green Lane was flooded - as is usual at this time of the year - but nothing to stop us getting to the pub.
Ros joined us shortly after we left the pub. The afternoon route took us past Ashington and along Willett Road, where we had a fine view as far as the Minster in Wimborne. From Willett's Arms we followed the railway trail back down to Delph Woods. The last bit of the route proved to be a bit hit-and-miss but we eventually found our way back to the cars. A very pleasant walk.

The Pub
The Lamb's Green. We've had some very good meals here in the past. Today the chicken pie scored 9 out of 10 (light-as-a-feather flaky pastry, thick pieces of juicy chicken and a nice sauce). Unfortunately the fish scored only 5 out of 10 (more batter than fish and too many bones). Our coffee expert says the coffee did not come up to scratch.

Next Week
Don't forget that next week Wednesday will be onTuesday. The annual Christmas lunch will be at the Pure Drop at 1200 for 1230. There will be a prior walk across Ferndown Common. For details, contact Wendy.